If I'd lived
by LeStrange9070
Summary: Amelia Phoenix died when she was four. But what if she hadn't? She goes on to befriend, and perhaps grow to love a certain Tom Riddle.


_Chapter One-_

I sat bolt upright in my cold bed, the orange light of the streetlight glaring through my flimsy, grayed curtains. Someone was knocking on the wall next to me. The knocking stopped, so I slowly lay back down and tried to get back to sleep again. The knocking returned- three muffled knocks on the wall next to me.

"Sh'up," I mumbled to myself as I realised that it was just Sybil, the mean girl next door to me trying to annoy me in the night. She knocked on the wall again.

"Shut up," I said a little louder.

"No, you freak," I heard her sharp, cruel voice say. I always wondered why she makes my life a living hell, just because I'm a little different- not that she would know why.

To get things straight, I'm a wizard. I know that, but nobody else does, because if I tell anyone, then I'm dead.

With a wistful glance at the old, faded picture of my parents and a three-year-old me, I pulled my covers over my head and tried to drown out Sybil's constant banging.

Morning dawned, and at 6:32, Mrs Crumplebottom rapped on my door, shouting

"Gerrup!" No loving 'Good morning,' or 'Rise and shine,' for me. This was what happened every day for me, though. I slid out of my bed, onto the dirty carpet of my dormitory. I yawned and stretched, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I was parched, because, of course, there was no drink on my bedside table. I changed into my old, ripped jeans and a blue t-shirt that I had had for years. Now, it was covered in stains and the stitching around the neck was coming away, but I still loved it because it belonged to my mum, when she was still here. It was far too big for me, since I'm only ten, but whenever I was able to, I would wear it.

Oh, by the way, my parents died when I was four. It was at my sister's wedding. Michelle, my sister, had been so excited. Everyone was so excited. But, it was a bit of a disappointment when we all died. Yes, I'm dead. My family's dead. Except, in this world, a parallel universe, I didn't die. Everyone else in my family died, but I managed to escape the burning building.

I slowly walked out of my room, closing my door behind me. It squeaked loudly, and Sybil must have heard because that moment she ducked out of her door and pushed me to the floor. I knew that it was her, because I could hear her high-pitched cackle of a laugh from her room. I sighed, and looked upwards. A tall, thin boy was looking at me. He had pale skin, and jet black hair. His eyes were almost black, and were staring at me with such intensity. As soon as he noticed I saw he was looking at me, he looked away nervously and walked quickly down the stairs. I pulled myself off of the floor with a sigh, and shuffled down the stairs. As I walked into the noisy breakfast room, nobody noted or payed attention to the fact that I had entered, except from that dark-haired boy who I saw was staring at me once again.

Once everyone was downstairs, Mrs Crumplebottom stood up and cleared her throat as the babble of people talking, and laughing, died down.

"So, ladies and gentlemen, as you might have noticed, we've got a new member in our orphanage today," She boomed. All eyes turned to the dark haired boy who was still glaring at me. "Mr Tom Riddle," she continued. So his name was Tom. I do wish he would stop staring at me though.

After the usual meal of the sandy-coloured mush that we ate for breakfast every day, I began to walk back upstairs to my dormitory, to get a little quiet and maybe to read a little. But that was interrupted as soon as I heard Sybil's high pitched voice behind me.

"You know that freak, Amelia?" She gossiped to her friends, "Yeah, she was banging on my wall last night. I was like 'Oh, do shut up Amelia,' but she was like 'Oh, no, this is what I do best 'cause I'm a sad little-"I quickly swiveled around to glare at her.

"Don't you dare," I threatened.

"Oh, gosh. I'm _so _terrified, what's freaky-deaky gonna do this time? Turn my belt into a snake again? Or maybe use her freak powers to plant a spider in my bed?" She laughed. Her friends, Chloe and Bethany giggled, too. She pushed me to the floor again and strutted off. Tom wandered up the stairs just afterwards.

He looked at me again, but this time when I met his gaze he didn't look away.

"Are you alright?" He asked, reaching out his hand to pull me up. I took it, smiling.

"Not really," I said grimly.

"What do you mean, 'not really'," he wondered.

"It's a long story," I sighed.

"I've got time for a long story. It's not like I'm going anywhere sometime soon." He seemed okay, so I explained to him. Not about my ability to move things without touching them, to make things- bad things happen to people who annoy me, or any of that. Not about my _magical _abilities. But I told him about the way Sybil and her friends would always tease me for just being a little _different_. But what really surprised me was that he hung on my every word. He _listened_. He _understood_. He _cared_. For the first time in five years, I _smiled _and it felt _good._

_Author's note: _Thanks for reading! Please review, but try and be nice because this is my first attempt at fan fiction. I don't mind a little constructive criticism, but don't hate, please! The more reviews, the faster the next chapter will come out! Thanks!


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